Gay culture festival Baltic Pride 2011, which advocates tolerance towards all people regardless of their sexuality or gender identity, will take place in Tallinn from June 6 to 11.

"Our message is simple: a person is a person. Estonian society is too small to start pitting people against each other," said Helen Talalaev, organizer of the festival.

Film screenings, concerts, exhibitions, sports events and parties will all take place within the festival program. On June 8, a conference titled "Diversity Enriches" will approach the topic of sexual minorities from different angles including introducing the rights of same-sex partnership. The week will end with a large open-air concert in downtown Tallinn, where many popular locals artist will be taking the stage.

The festival, which was first held in Riga in 2009, joins lesbian, bisexual, gay and transsexual organizations across the Baltic states.

Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDE) and former minister of health and labour, Jevgeni Ossinovski expects poverty in Estonia to decrease as an effect of the current government's income tax reform, though the actual impact will become clear only after data is evaluated next year.